WASHINGTON-The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association expects to make news when it unveils its voluntary consumer code of conduct next week, but how consumers embrace the code is less clear. Either the code is fraught with loopholes big enough to drive a truck through or it is a document that consumers can use to demand and expect better and more relevant information from mobile-phone carriers.
CTIA has scheduled a press conference for Sept. 9 to unveil its consumer code of conduct, which RCR Wireless News first made public in February.
In talking with several people who have seen drafts of the document, it appears that the consumer code will not include an agreement for carriers to make billing and rate information consistent across the industry. A consistent easily comparable rate box-such as what is required for financial services and has been proposed by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.)-is considered old think by an industry that would rather compete on services offered than on price.
Instead, the consumer code will require carriers that sign on to define certain terms and other advertising jargon. For example, if a carrier says it offers 1,000 night and weekend minutes, a customer can expect that its advertising support material-available on the Web or in a store-would define nights and weekends.
In a significant shift by industry, carriers that agree to follow the code must make maps available that detail the percentage of connected calls in a particular location. The percentages will be based on outdoor usage. These maps are expected to be updated no less than four times a year but the consumer code only will require that the maps be updated periodically.
As part of its review of regulations in 2000, the Federal Communications Commission eliminated the coverage-map requirement for cellular carriers, in part because the industry already offered coverage maps. In addition, PCS and SMR carriers were not required to provide coverage maps. However, consumer advocates criticized those maps as too general and did not account for large gaps in coverage in some locations.
CTIA’s code will call for carriers to institute at least a 14-day grace period for consumers to back out of contracts without paying the penalty, which should give consumers enough time to use the phone in places they live or regularly visit.
While some consumer advocates are concerned that the industry is not going far enough, others recognize that since the code was written by lawyers-at least the general counsels for the six nationwide carriers were involved-it is as clear as could be expected. Any more granularity would have opened the industry up to unnecessary liability.
But no one expects the code to solve all consumer complaints.
“The series of lawsuits are far from over,” said James Bradford Ramsay, general counsel of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. NARUC last week urged CTIA to base its consumer code on resolutions passed by state regulators.
“That the industry has worked to formulate its own code is commendable. However, the ideas in both of our resolutions will certainly improve the industry’s work. We strongly encourage CTIA to incorporate all of the ideas and principles in those resolutions into its code,” said NARUC President Stan Wise of Georgia. NARUC passed resolutions on wireless best practices at its meeting last month in Denver.
In a letter to CTIA President Thomas Wheeler, NARUC said, “A similar effort to create such a voluntary code has been a topic of discussion at NARUC meetings for over a year now.”
CTIA declined to comment on the NARUC letter. “We’re still reviewing it,” said CTIA spokesman Travis Larson.
At a press conference on Thursday, K. Dane Snowden, chief of the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, said he had seen a draft of the code that had been circulating around NARUC.
Since he had only seen a draft and not a final version, Snowden declined to say whether the code would help to lower the number of consumer complaints the FCC receives about wireless service. He also said the next quarterly report on complaints would be released in about two weeks, which would put it in response to the code if everything stays on schedule.
After calling on the wireless industry to adopt better consumer practices last February, Schumer has not let up, and when mobile phones did not work during the power outage last month, the senator took the industry to task at an Aug. 24 press conference in his Manhattan, N.Y., office.
“Cell phones failed us on Sept. 11, they failed last week, and unless we make changes soon, they’ll fail us again next time,” said Schumer. “Over the years, traditional telephone land lines and most other utilities have developed so-called redundancies-if one power system fails, there is a backup to keep people safe. The wireless industry just isn’t there yet, and it needs to catch up quick.”
A major reason that the mobile-phone networks fail in times of crisis is that they are engineered to assume only 25 percent of customers use the networks at any given time, said Schumer. As part of proposed rule changes, Schumer would like the FCC to mandate that carriers increase mobile-phone network capacity.
“While certain delays are to be expected when cell-phone usage suddenly triples or quadruples, cellular networks should be able to handle more than 25 percent of their customers making a call at any one time,” said Schumer. “If they cannot, the FCC should establish strict and specific requirements that increase network capacity.”
Schumer sent a letter to FCC Chairman Michael Powell to detail his concerns and suggestions.
“Today, carriers aim to provide consumers call completion rates of 98 or 99 percent on the first try during their busiest hours. Can you imagine the post office or the DMV or even your local bank providing no-wait service 98 percent of the time at peak hours?” asked CTIA’s Larson. “Meeting capacity requirements and building total redundancy into the system would require gabillions in investment. That’s cash the carriers simply don’t have without raising rates so high we’d price most consumers right out of the market.”
Schumer also believes that all mobile-phone carriers should be required to offer wireless priority access service to public-safety employees.
The wireless industry resisted a WPS mandate until after Sept. 11 when it said it was too expensive unless the government helped. The first phase of available funds went to T-Mobile USA Inc. After that, Congress cut the money for the program, so it has stalled.
“As Sen. Schumer indicates, WPS is an important tool for designated national security and emergency preparedness (NS/EP) users in times of emergency or natural disaster,” said T-Mobile. “Congress took a positive step when it restored funding for WPS, and we, along with others, look to Congress to continue to support its development and implementation. As federal, state and local awareness of WPS increases, we expect to see a growing number of designated users.”
“Wireless priority access is a government-financed program, and to date, the funding simply hasn’t been sufficient to provide WPS across all six nationwide carriers,” said CTIA.
